By Aby Jose Koilparambil
(Reuters) -British office-space provider Workspace (LON:WKP) Group said on Thursday customer demand remained resilient in the first quarter, driven by the post-pandemic trend of increased preference for short-term leases and flexible work spaces.
Companies such as Workspace have outperformed traditional property companies as office firms limp back to operational recovery from pandemic lows, with tenants preferring flexible spaces and short-term leases over traditional work locations and longer contracts.
The London-focused firm that mainly counts small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs as its clients said like-for-like rent roll was up 3.2% to 103.6 million pounds ($131.7 million) in the quarter ended June 30.
Workspace CEO Graham Clemett said London's SMEs were proving resilient in the current economic climate, with continued improvement in pricing.
The group, which owns about 80 properties mainly across the London area and lets these offices, industrial and workshop spaces to other businesses, said like-for-like occupancy in the three months to June 30 was stable at 89.2%.
Shares in the FTSE 250 firm were down about 4% in early trading amid a 0.5% fall in the broader midcap index as minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting rekindled concerns of tighter monetary policy.
"The update from Workspace was quite positive, with the key figure being the 3.2% growth in like-for-like rent roll," said James Carswell, analyst at Peel Hunt, attributing the decline in shares to weak broader market sentiment on the day.
($1 = 0.7868 pounds)